The Steelcase University Learning Center: A study in future workspace design

The prototype classroom at the SULC uses triangulation to make every seat the best seat in the room and encourage student participation.

The Steelcase University Learning Center, with it's contemporary yet inviting design, has positioned itself as a prototype for workplaces of the future.

Plenty of "in-between" spaces with youthful-looking furniture create informal spaces for employees to work -- or just network -- and create a feeling of openness that pervades the SULC.

Steelcase originally designed the Discovery Learning Center to function as a sort-of library, but nobody used it that way, Frans says. It now serves as a retreat for visiting clients.

Rob Frans, senior consultant for corporate sales at

Steelcase

, said that feeling was deliberate in the building's original design.

Every space has some access to natural daylight, much of which comes from the 3,000-square-foot courtyard in the middle of the building. The interior rooms have at least part of a wall made of floor-to-ceiling glass. Many of the informal group spaces are defined not by walls but by beams or panels.

"We're breaking the mold of cinderblock rooms," Frans said.

If he had to describe the Steelcase University Learning Center in two words, Frans would use "connection" and "choice."

The goal of the SULC was to connect people to people, people to information, people to tools, and people to culture, Frans said. The design team wanted to avoid "siloing" people off from each other, which would conflict with the work styles of the next generation of talent Steelcase looks to attract.

"If you start by dividing space, you're creating obstacles for yourself," Frans said.

Many of the in-between spaces are not defined by solid walls, but by beams and panels. "We're breaking the mold of cinderblock rooms," Frans says.

Another way Steelcase is experimenting with creating connections between people is a new take on the traditional classroom. This prototype room, where Frans has taught a

Grand Valley State University

advertising class, has no front, or "teacher wall," as he calls it.

"Every seat is the best seat in the room," he said.

Projectors on three walls and four tables angle toward the middle of the room create an atmosphere for discussion, as opposed to formal lectures. And "copy cams" on the walls capture notes written on portable dry-erase boards to further facilitate interactive learning.

Steelcase will never put another traditional classroom in the SULC, Frans said.

The SULC also houses multiple meeting areas and offices, most of which are shared. This philosophy of shared real estate feeds into Frans's idea of "choice."

The small offices are some of the hardest-working real estate at the SULC because they're not "owned" -- employees can filter in and out on a first-come-first-served basis.

Even the furniture provides employees choices: An ottoman transforms into a stand for a laptop. In other areas, chairs with wheels and handles tell employees they're meant to rearrange the furniture.

"Some of the same principles that apply in a normal work area apply here," Frans said. "But we're shifting away from the more permanent cubicles to mobile working. People will lose the picture frames on their desks, so they'll keep pictures on their laptop. People are embracing group areas."

This corner of the SULC works for formal meetings or small banquets -- the table even splits into four smaller tables for small-group work.

One of the biggest group areas is the "snack station" near the front entrance. A variety of different seating options -- square cafeteria tables, tall coffee-shop tables, clusters of comfy chairs -- mean many different individuals or small groups can work, eat or socialize all in the same space.

"People migrate to this space," he said. "It does what it's supposed to do."

And when spaces don't perform the function they were designed for, Steelcase is ready to rethink them.

A Room Wizard next to each door serves not only as a way for employees to reserve a space but also as a device to monitor the amount and way rooms are used. Steelcase has already used that data to make adjustments, including taking a couple of small meeting rooms and turning them into one-person office spaces. The panels used to construct the rooms are self-contained and interchangeable.

"We're future-proofed here," he said. "Our assets can be reused over and over. We're solving problems we don't even know exist yet."

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